"Oh... did you manage to save our luggage?"
Not exactly...
"Yes, but I'm serious here. We must leave as soon as possible." The blue eyed man said and turned around, expecting Hollyleaf to follow.
The young cashier gave a sheepish smile to Hollyleaf and a small wave when she left, following Jayfeather.
"...Where are we gonna stay?" Hollyleaf asked, looking down at her knee-high boots.
Jayfeather sighed and shook his head, "Remember Breezepelt from Wind County? The one who kept flirting with you and got in a fight with Lionblaze."
The ravenette gave a half-hearted smile and playfully punched Jayfeather's shoulder, "He never flirted with me, the guy was just a very good friend...Anyway, how exactly are we supposed to cross County borders? Those guys patrolling will recognize us from one of our earlier visits."
Once the two walked into the forest, following a barely visible path, Hollyleaf recognized this place, this was the way to the underground passageways that they discovered when they were younger. They used to be military bunkers or something along those lines, at least that is what Firestar said. Too bad he isn't there to help them out of the situation.
"We found a map to the tunnels when we were running so we thought that could stay down there until college starts. Breezepelt said he owed you something so he's going to help out with the food and identification problem." Jayfeather said as he cleared debris from the tunnel entrance and pulled on a latch.
The ravenette nodded in understanding and lowered herself to the ladder first, "He certainly owed me but I didn't think he'd actually remember the time that I sneaked him into Thunder County...Feels like was years ago..."
"It was years ago...Anyway, you took the lighter from the store, right?" Jayfeather asked, half expecting a no as he lowered himself to the ladder and closed the latch which revealed the tunnel network.
"I did, were you expecting a no?" Hollyleaf smirked and took out the lighter from her pocket once they were on solid ground.
"First of all, you were never comfortable with stealing," The blue-eyed man stated as he took the lighter and lit a torch "Second of all, we should hurry, I don't like the idea of leaving Lionblaze down here all alone...This place gives me the creeps."
Hollyleaf agreed and lit her own torch, following Jayfeather down the eerie looking tunnels.
The first thing that Hollyleaf noticed was that there scratch marks on the walls but didn't pay much attention to it, must be erosion or something, she thought. The echo of their footsteps also creeped out Hollyleaf but she understood that it was science that there was an echo in the tunnels, but it was still a creepy setting. Even with idle chats she began with Jayfeather, it felt as if she were being watched until someone(thing?) called out.
"Hollyleaf, Jayfeather?"
The ravenette froze and gave Jayfeather a questioning look. He shrugged at her and went inside a room which had lightbulbs instead of torches waiting to be lit.
"Lionblaze, for a second I thought I lost you down here." Jayfeather said, giving Hollyleaf a small smirk.
The room looked very clean, probably courtesy of Lionblaze. One bunk and one normal bed, two desks, a bookshelf, and some beat up luggage bags...Nice to know that my belongings were miscarried, Hollyleaf thought sarcastically.
"It looks like you guys were planning on moving in here since a while ago, you mind telling me something?" The ravenette exclaimed as she looked around the room and tried to forget the damaged looking luggage.
"We actually were planning on showing you this place later on because Breezepelt already offered us shelter but, we could stay here instead of a night at Breezepelt's. I believe it's a better option. Sorry for not telling you..." Lionblaze said with a shrug.
Hollyleaf shook her head, "It's lovely...If you manage to appreciate the electricity down here and forget the creepiness of the place..."
"Yeah, anyway, we found a quick way to Breezepelt's house. Tomorrow we can head there, get some food, money, and clothes...Maybe a few books for the shelf, too." Jayfeather suggested as he sat on the lower bunk. "Hollyleaf, you can take the normal bed, Lionblaze and I can take the bunk." He added.
The ravenette gave a half-hearted smile and sat on her new bed, which was surprisingly comfortable. The three kept talking until they dozed off, Hollyleaf resting her head on Lionblaze's lap and Jayfeather on Lionblaze's shoulder. This reminded Hollyleaf of a distant memory, when the three were living comfortably with Firestar because Leafpool and Crowfeather were busy with work. Now don't get Hollyleaf wrong, Leafpool and Crowfeather weren't around as much as any normal parents would like to be, but they always made time for the trio in their busy schedule and Hollyleaf loved them for that.
It reminded the ravenette of quite a few memories that seemed from another lifetime. When the three were in middle school, teachers would say that Jayfeather was too young to be dying his hair, Lionblaze would start laughing like crazy, Jayfeather would simply give a nonchalant look at the teacher and Lionblaze. Hollyleaf would explain to the teacher that Jayfeather's blue-gray hair was actually natural. By the time high school came, everyone knew the truth about Jayfeather's hair: it's natural.
But as always, good times are fleeting and forgotten. Reality always hits hard...But it was too much for the trio, that incident had scarred them and they never forgot, never stopped having nightmares, even if it happened almost a year ago. Even after that, the three are still hell-bent on going to college and make an honest life, preferably in Wind County where they can count on Breezepelt and a few others for help.
Not like anything went their way...After all, the world is cruel to the weak.
Yay, I made the first chapter longer, 1019 words in total (just counting the actual chapter, not my blabber here). Honestly, it's the most I've written and I really hope that there are still Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze trio fans because I'd like to improve my writing and get more readers to motivate me. Thank you for reading yet another crappy chapter and please review, give me tips and point out and rushing or mistakes, I'm smiling like an idiot when I see a positive comment so thanks again! Since I'm very happy this week, I'll edit the last chapter and start a new chapter since I'm on summer break and have way too much free time. Expect chapters of 1000 words or more. - Finch Swoop